Serotonergic antagonists and vascular disease.
5-Hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) can evoke both contraction and relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. In disease, the constrictor component of the response to the monoamine appears to dominate. 5HT2-serotonergic antagonists favor dilatation, not only because they block the activating effect of serotonin on vascular smooth muscle, but also because they unmask the (endothelium-dependent) relaxation to the monoamine and brake the amplifying effect that it exerts on platelet aggregation. These properties of serotonergic antagonists help to explain their protective effects in vascular disease.
Vanhoutte
P M
PM
Center for Experimental Therapeutics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030.
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D012702:Serotonin Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D012702:Serotonin Antagonists